Category Archives: News
U.N. Presses Syria to Call Cease-Fire
By JOE LAURIA, INTI LANDAURO and NOUR MALAS The United Nations raised the death toll in Syria to 7,500 people and called for an immediate cease-fire, as conflicting reports emerged about efforts
Wounded journalists ‘smuggled out’ of Syria
At least one Western journalist seriously wounded in the Syrian government’s bombardment of an opposition enclave, has been smuggled with the help of activists into neighbouring Lebanon. News of the escape of Paul Conroy, a British photographer, and unconfirmed
Journalist escapes from besieged Homs
A wounded British journalist who was trapped in the besieged Syrian city of Homs along with other journalists and activists has been smuggled to safety in neighbouring Lebanon. Paul Conroy was working
EU targets Syria ministers with sanctions
The European Union has published a list of senior Syrian officials, including several government ministers, targeted by a latest round of sanctions as the death toll from a crackdown on an anti-government
Palestinian killed in West Bank clashes
A Palestinian man has died after being shot in clashes with Israeli soldiers in the occupied West Bank, as Palestinian protesters and Israeli police also clashed near the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.
As Syria Strikes Kill Scores, Opposition Seeks Backing
By CHARLES LEVINSON CAIRO—Syrian forces reportedly killed scores of people during the sixth straight day of attacks on the city of Homs, as opposition leaders and international alliances moved on disparate fronts
New Violence in Syrian North Kills 28
CAIRO—Two explosions ripped through security compounds in the Syrian city of Aleppo on Friday, in an apparent attempt to sway the support of the city’s influential business community, as opposition in restive
Homs Assault Escalates As Syrians Call for Help
By CHARLES LEVINSON CAIRO—Syrian forces’ deadly artillery assault on Homs continued for a sixth straight day Thursday, as the country’s fractured opposition lobbied for international support ahead of an Arab League summit
Saudi Women, in a Shift, Sue for Right to Drive
By ELLEN KNICKMEYER RIYADH—A court in Saudi Arabia agreed to hear the first lawsuits by Saudi women challenging the kingdom’s de facto ban on women driving, a lawyer for one of the
Russia Makes Push in Syria
After meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said his message of the need to step up efforts to end the violence in Syria “has been heard,”
Has Syria been given a licence to kill?
The UN has again failed to condemn the Syrian government for its crackdown on protesters, after Russia and China blocked a Security Council resolution.
Syrian army ‘steps up Homs offensive’
The Syrian army has stepped up its attacks on opposition fighters in Homs, activists and witnesses have said, a day after a UN Security Council resolution, aimed at ending the bloodshed in
Russia, China Veto UN Resolution on Syria
By JOE LAURIA in New York and CHARLES LEVINSON in Cairo UNITED NATIONS—Russia on Saturday vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution calling on Syrian President Bashar Assad to step aside hours after
Leaving Guatemala: Jody Williams
February 1, 2012 I’m sitting at the airport in Guatemala waiting for the flight to Atlanta. We spent part of the morning with Rigoberta Menchu Tum commemorating the death of her father,
Iran: Wave of arrests in run up to parliamentary elections
31 January 2012 AI Index: MDE 13/004/2012 Download full file pdf iran human right Amnesty International is concerned that an ongoing wave of arrests of media workers and bloggers is intended to
The Murder of Sister Valsa: a WSJ Investigation
By Krishna Pokharel and Paul Beckett “Where is Sister Valsa?” they demanded. “Where is Sister Valsa?” In the dark of night on Nov. 15, the mob surrounded the tiled-roof compound. They carried
Dozens Killed in Attack on Iraqi Funeral Procession
By JOE PARKINSON ISTANBUL—The Arab League said it would suspend its monitoring mission in Syria due to the increase in violence, a move set to intensify Arab and Western nations’ push for
Emboldened Taliban Try to Sell Softer Image
KABUL—When the Taliban ruled Afghanistan in the 1990s, Maulvi Qalamuddin headed the Committee to Protect Virtue and Prevent Vice, the religious police that shut down girls’ schools, beat up men with insufficiently
Syria activists report ‘massacre’ in Homs
Fresh violence has erupted in the besieged Syrian city of Homs, a day after armed forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad barraged residential buildings with mortars and machine-gun fire and killed at
Are Europe’s Muslims America’s problem?
New York, NY – As the presidential campaign begins in earnest, Republican contenders are stirring up racial animosities: Newt Gingrich calls President Obama a “foodstamp president”, and demands a federal law to
Syria security forces ‘destroy homes’ in Hama
At least six people have been killed as Syrian security forces continued attacks on protest hubs across the country, activists say. Three people were killed in the Damascus suburb of Qalamoun of
Are Muslims allowed rights?
New York, NY – The Associated Press recently reported on know-your-rights trainings happening in New York City’s Muslim communities. This was one of the latest installments in the wire agency’s series confirming
Palestine state … of mind
After more than 60 years of dispossession, 40 years of occupation and 20 years of failed peace processes, the Palestinians went to the United Nations to demand justice. GUESTS ON THIS MONTH’S
UN raises Syria death toll to 2,900
The United Nations has raised its tally of people killed during seven months of unrest in Syria to more than 2,900 – an increase of 200 people since the beginning of September.
Behind East Africa’s famine
With the harshest drought in decades, millions of people in the Horn of Africa are now at risk. Tens of thousands in Somalia have lost their lives to starvation, disease, and violence.
Journalism and the politics of hunger
Reports of famine vary wildly in their impact. Sometimes images of emaciated children in relief camps provoke an outpouring of charitable giving. The music and entertainment industry rally round as concerts are
The IMF on trial
The world is undergoing seismic economic changes, from the international financial crisis to the shifting balance of power between developed and developing countries. In this new world order the International Monetary
Overcrowded jails inimical to justice
It’s been two months since a divided US Supreme Court affirmed a lower court ruling, which ordered the state of California to reduce its prison population by roughly 33,000. The state’s 33
